I’ve been suffering the ill-effects of food-poisoning and diarrhea for a few days now. Something I thought would clear up (it usually does in just a few hours) has lasted a little longer than expected. Correspondingly I paid my first visit to the free clinic provided by my employer.

Now I may have got special ‘foreign teacher’ treatment (not sure if the students get seen so quickly), but I was in and out (with appropriate medication) in 13 minutes and the whole thing was free. Despite the fact that the doctor was clearly more interested in the WoW game he was playing on his laptop (than dealing with a trivial patient) he still asked me all the right questions and a correct diagnosis.

Following this, perhaps the best part, he over-prescribed prescribed about four different medicines to treat my problem. Usually this is the point in Oz where I start to get pissed off, thinking how its gonna cost me a fortune to pay for a handful of prescriptions instead of just one, only to find out the medicine is chucked in for free! The clinic has a stock set of generic medicine (antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, etc) that it dispenses for free to students and staff alike. Nobody abuses this system (each visit is documented) and portions cover just a few days.

Once yuor medicines are prescribed, a nurse puts them in a ‘whizz-bang’ machines where they get sorted and automatically dispensed into plastic pouches. One pouch thus represents one dose, saving you from rifling through a range of instructions after you’ve left the clinic.

Now its not a really touchy feely medical environment (as Dad would term it), however it gets the job done and services the University’s community. It’s only really meant to handle basic concerns (I wouldn’t want to go there for something serious), but I think clinics such as this (which would no doubt be abused in OZ), are a practical and sensible approach to minor-case medical issues.

When I looked at this kid with indignation, he just shrugged and stared at me (despite the fact that I’m dressed and clearly LOOK like a staff member!).  He then proceeded to brush past me as he earnestly rejoined the queue, in mortal fear that he would lose his space. He didn’t mutter any apologies or sense of regret..

Bottom line from this, when food is involved, locals, Ah-doa has noticed, can easily transform into savages!

Maybe its the trend towards generic pastry franchises (Mister Donut, Yamazaki, 85 Degrees), but it seems that for the average Asian if its not mantou , then it must be fluffy and sweet. My Grandma Omi (an avid lover of rye and dark ‘meaty’ breads) would have a fit if she had to spread her Philadelphia cream cheese on this stuff! I’ve actually switched to dry biscuits/crackers, so dissapointed have I become with bread quality here.

Moving back to today’s mini-roll disaster. I should’ve guessed someting was up when I noticed that the top of the loaf was covered in a film of oil (a current baking practice here), but there was no way to tell what the filling was inside. As G & I have often discovered and joked about during work breaks, literally ‘anything’ can make its way inside a roll here. Most popular are a.) tuna, b.) pork floss and c.) beans. Today I ended up with red-bean (which personally is the one I dislike the most), but after you’ve already bitten into it, you can’t take it back.

Whinging aside, Ah-doa has managed to find some exceptions to this (although I still think most of the bread is sh&^) by discovering bagels. Boiled in the traditional manner, bagels (which can be found at a number of different places, to varying qualities) is the lone <em>Kohinoor</em> in a world of baking wannabies.

I had to post this video as I can’t believe Yuan Wei Ren is only 27!! The guy looks like he’s in his 40s!

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=s.h.e.+yuan+wei+ren&search=Search

So who is he exactly, well think Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson crossbred with Harry Potter. He’s a music producer/composer here, and he’s one of the judges on the local ‘idol’ format. His personality is completely different though, ppl adore him and he usually says nice, constructive things!

I will try to be more ‘Metamucil’ like with my future updates.

Now I like MLB as much as the next man (watched the Boston Red Sox y’day and they definitely look the goods for winning the Championship) , but the way that they repeat games 3 or 4 times is just ridiculous. Perhaps its the media-critic in me,  but  the fact that ‘only’ baseball exists is a little closed minded.

Back to results, the Wallabies got ‘done’ again, and even worse the Kiwis got knocked out.. If ever there was a good chance for the Aussies to becomes the first team to win 3 World Cups, this was it.The Kiwis were red-hot favourites, and now the door is wide open for France, South Africa and England..My outside hope is Argentina, but also hoping Fiji (who impressed against Wales) are a chance.

Been watching ‘Caddyshack’ over the weekend, you remember that golf comedy with Chevy Chase (whatever happened to him?). Well apart from bringing back nostalgia of the old day 80s comedies, it also brought back Jackie Mason. You remember him, that ‘nebish’ Jersey comedian? I never realised quite how funny he is, I was literally laughing my way through the whole movie..

I did want to bring up one thing though from a couple of days ago. Was at the vege market just near my apartment (I am ‘trying’ to cook more now, even though my kitchen is the precise dimensions of a shoebox) and chanced by the ‘live chicken stall’ in action. Now whilst most animals are too large to be slaughtered on demand (i.e. beef, pork) chicken can be kept alive (and thus more ‘fresh’) on site. Although I’ve visited this market numerous times before, I’ve never been present for a ‘live’ slaughter. As the chicken ‘cried’ for its life (I’m not making this up), I forced myself to watch the gruesome procedure. I felt like it really taught me something new about ‘food’ and how a live being is turned into chicken drumsticks.

Needless to say I’m not turning vegetarian, but ‘a la’ Jamie Oliver (when he slaughtered a pig in Italy), I feel like its important to be aware of what animals go through before they end up on our plate.. I’m even considering seeking out Peter Singer’s book “The Ethics of What We Eat”

http://www.amazon.com/Ethics-What-We-Eat-Choices/dp/1594866872

I was passing by McDonald’s in the city yesterday when I chanced upon this toy being sold outside to the general public. Cast alongside Snoopy and Hello Kitty figurines was ‘Mr.Koala’.. At first I thought it was yet another ‘cutesy’ packaging of Australiana, but with a closer look (you try yourself, click on the photo for a clearer view) I was a little shocked.

Ostensibly this character is ‘Nigel’ from Disney’s The Wild movie, but I saw a deeper meaning to his presentation. Now I don’t tend to take symbolic ‘texts’ at their face value anymore (I tend to thing EVERYTHING has a deeper meaning), but even an 8 year old can see what’s wrong with this Australian representation.. Apart from not wearing any pants (a habit which does not make him ‘unAustralian’ in any way) he is clearly holding the Satue of Liberty’s torch.

Now if ever there was a symbol of Australia’s own tenuous current identity, perhaps ‘Nigel’ is it..As I detailed in my previous APEC entry, Australia appears in a crisis of representation, both at home and abroad. Note his confused expression (his furrowed eyebrows bear a striking resemblence to our currently beleaguered PM), legs splayed apart (thus unbalanced) and the seeming ignorance of the torch that stands above and ‘guides’ him..

Now America has for generations attempted to serve as the world’s ‘guiding light’, agressively and didactically imposing its systems onto both ally and enemy alike. This has created ambiguities for sure, but in my opinion none so challanging as to identity. Nigel, the humble Koala bear probably ‘goes down a treat’ in LA, NY and Washington, a cuddly and approachable notion of ‘Australiana’ for the USA, but to a native, he presents an ambiguous and worrying stereotype.

At times I’m really challenged by just how Australia is represented abroad. Today I watched the most recent Wallabies victory over Fiji in the rugby. Whilst I found myself cheering along loudly (especially when Force players like Giteau and Mitchell scored), the commentators (a Scot and a Kiwi) were lamenting having to hear ‘Waltzing Matilda’ being played constantly by adoring fans.. Perhaps Oz is outstaying its welcome in the international arena, and a once humble and modest country is now being perceived as a predictable and self-absorbed nation..

Been watching a lot of baseball lately. Roger Clemens (whose back at the Yankees) pitched a win against the Red Sox at Fenway Park yesterday.  the guys still going strong and he’s well into his 40s.. A-Rod’s been good, but I think Derek Jeter’s been playing out of his skin lately..

Apart from that, y’day was the first day of term and things went fine. It actually looks like my workload will ease up a bit this semester (only organising three full classes compared to last year’s five) and the students seem keen.. Today was canceled (Yay!), although with another festival next Tuesday, it mean it won;t be before Week 3, before I have my first class with some students!

Holy crap! I just looked out my window now and someone in the opposite apartment block still has their windows open.. That’s really dangerous as it can de-pressurize the entire building..They’ve been warning people all day long (bout staying inside with windows shut), but as the storm thusfar has been somewhat ‘pissweak’, people don’t seem to pay much attention.. I can guarantee they aren’t going out now though (palm tress are literally thrashing from side to side on the opposite building)  as no one wants to be unsheltered when the real thing hits..

G, whose apartment faces the roadside, told me most of the businesses were open earlier today, where people were driving around and doing shopping. I guess either the weather reporting is v.accurate (where they ‘know’ it wont hit until tonight) or they’re just willing to take a chance..

But anyways ppl, don’t be feared for me. These things are very common (bout 25-30 per year) and the worst that can happen is that pipes are blocked and there are power cuts. My apartment faces a courtyard (much safer than a street) and chances of flooding are very low.. For me, I’m just hoping that my outside washing machine (owned by landlord) doesn’t become drenched..

On top of that work has given me a work computer, an awesome Macbook (http://www.apple.com/macbook/macbook.html). G’s been showing me some of the cool features and been talking about the advantages of the Mac format for a while now.. I think I’m becoming convinced. It can operate in parallels (both Mac Os and Windows), where it run XP faster than my old laptop. On top of that its anti-glare screen is awesome and the keyboard is very tactile and responsive.

Buying and being given this stuff reminds me again just how dependable I’ve become on the gadgets and IT that that surrounds me. Not to sound too much like Donna Harraway and her envisioning of a cyborg like future, I do believe we are becoming emotionally linked and attached to the technology around us. It comes around in many ways, that awful void that happens to most of us have when we go away and maybe have 3-4 days with no Internet access. Ah-doa also believes we get a sense of satisfaction from correctly utilizing technology toys. Think back to the first time you ever sent an SMS. Can you remember that sense of achievement or success. What about the first time you successfully burnt a CD. On the other hand technology can also facilitate some extreme lows. When your computer doesn’t there’s an almost surreal sense of doom. When your mobile is out of range, it feels like you’ve been banished to the corners of the earth.. For me, I’m too busy looking around for an alternate computer (or the help of G to ‘fix it’ for me) so that I can get back to whatever end I’m striving for (be it Word, Excel or youtube).

It’s clear that we still ‘project’ on computers (despite their impersonal nature at large) and are yet to find a comfortable or harmonic relationship with them. Guess only time will tell whether this can be resolved in future, or will we remain just that one step and parallel away from the technological world.

Since I last left in July, about the only positive thing that’s really come about is that its starting to get a bit cooler now. How do I know this, well as I walk the hill to my office each day (a short 10 minutes uphill), I only get slightly hot and dehydrated, whereas in June my entire shirt was drenched with sweat and I could only speak in gargles for the first 30 minutes of recovery. Now its tolerable, but still difficult to walk into the stifling heat of my top floor office which takes about 40 min to cool down with the A.C. on.

What similarly amazes Ah-doa is that G is able to make exactly the same journey without even the slightest indication of fatigue.. Maybe its his tough Scottish constitution, or our differing genetic make-ups, but by the end of the walk we literally appear like ‘chalk and cheese’ for the first few minutes in the office..

Onto my gripe news..Bus fares have gone up, from a stable price of NT$15 to NT$18. This means one has a choice of either carrying a bucket-load of change around to accommodate, or similarly to pay $20 (no change given) and forfeit the remainder to the local government. What perhaps gets me the most about this, is that its happening in my county but not in Taipei..Why? No doubt, the ppl of Taipei would launch an insurrection on the city government and demand that the rise be either introduced gradually or revoked..

In response Ah-doa is not a happy chappy. On psychological principle alone he would’ve preferred some notice, or at least a rise to $20 a more direct no. that he doesn’t need to fiddle for change with.

Onto perhaps my last gripe of the day; someone in my apartment building has taken a liking to carpentry of late and thus chooses to start most mornings (often at 8:30, including Sat) by banging the crap out of two pieces of wood. Now although I live in a pretty good apartment block, space is at a premium in Taiwan and therefore walls are seldom very thick. I’m sure the guy doesn’t realise how much the banging actually echoes, and no doubt if he did, he would save his hobby work for a little later in the day.

Btw. Has anybody seen what’s been up with Britney (aka the self proclaimed ‘Britney-bitch’) and her performance at the MTV awards. Just embarrassing (even for her).. Can’t find the video now, but will post soon.